Conventional batteries (e.g. 18650-type cylindrical cells and rectangular pouch or prismatic cells) are mechanically rigid and this non-flexibility feature has severely constrained its adaptability or feasibility of being implemented in confined spaces or for use in wearable devices. Flexible and shape-conformable power sources can be used to overcome these design limitations. These new power sources will enable the development of next-generation electronic devices, such as smart mobile gadgets, roll-up displays, wearable devices, and biomedical sensors. Flexible and conformable power sources will also save weight and space in electric vehicles.
Lithium ion battery is a prime candidate energy storage device for electric vehicle (EV) and mobile device applications. The past two decades have witnessed a continuous improvement in Li-ion batteries in terms of energy density, rate capability, and safety, and somehow the significantly higher energy density Li metal batteries have been largely overlooked. However, the use of graphite-based anodes in Li-ion batteries has several significant drawbacks: low specific capacity (theoretical capacity of 372 mAh/g as opposed to 3,860 mAh/g for Li metal), long Li intercalation time (e.g. low solid-state diffusion coefficients of Li in and out of graphite and inorganic oxide particles) requiring long recharge times (e.g. 7 hours for electric vehicle batteries), inability to deliver high pulse power (power density<<1 kW/kg), and necessity to use pre-lithiated cathodes (e.g. lithium cobalt oxide), thereby limiting the choice of available cathode materials. Further, these commonly used cathodes have a relatively low specific capacity (typically <200 mAh/g). These factors have contributed to the two major shortcomings of today's Li-ion batteries—low gravimetric and volumetric energy densities (typically 150-220 Wh/kg and 450-600 Wh/L) and low power densities (typically <0.5 kW/kg and <1.0 kW/L), all based on the total battery cell weight or volume.
The emerging EV and renewable energy industries demand the availability of rechargeable batteries with a significantly higher gravimetric energy density (e.g. demanding >>250 Wh/kg and, preferably, >>300 Wh/kg) and higher power density (shorter recharge times) than what the current Li ion battery technology can provide. Furthermore, the microelectronics industry and power tool industry are in need of a battery having a significantly larger volumetric energy density (>650 Wh/L, preferably >750 Wh/L) since consumers demand to have smaller-volume and more compact portable devices (e.g. smart phones and tablets) that store more energy. These requirements have triggered considerable research efforts on the development of electrode materials with a higher specific capacity, excellent rate capability, and good cycle stability for lithium ion batteries.
Several elements from Group III, IV, and V in the periodic table can form alloys with Li at certain desired voltages. Therefore, various anode materials based on such elements and some metal oxides have been proposed for lithium ion batteries. Among these, silicon has been recognized as one of the next-generation anode materials for high-energy lithium ion batteries since it has a nearly 10 times higher theoretical gravimetric capacity than graphite 3,590 mAh/g based on Li3.75Si vs. 372 mAh/g for LiC6) and ˜3 times larger volumetric capacities. However, the dramatic volume changes (up to 380%) of Si during lithium ion alloying and de-alloying (cell charge and discharge) often led to severe and rapid battery performance deterioration. The performance fade is mainly due to the volume change-induced pulverization of Si and the inability of the binder/conductive additive to maintain the electrical contact between the pulverized Si particles and the current collector. In addition, the intrinsic low electric conductivity of silicon is another challenge that needs to be addressed.
Although several high-capacity anode active materials have been found (e.g., Si), there has been no corresponding high-capacity cathode material available. Current cathode active materials commonly used in Li-ion batteries have the following serious drawbacks: (1) The practical capacity achievable with current cathode materials (e.g. lithium iron phosphate and lithium transition metal oxides) has been limited to the range of 150-250 mAh/g and, in most cases, less than 200 mAh/g. (2) The insertion and extraction of lithium in and out of these commonly used cathodes rely upon extremely slow solid-state diffusion of Li in solid particles having very low diffusion coefficients (typically 10−8 to 10−14 cm2/s), leading to a very low power density (another long-standing problem of today's lithium-ion batteries). (3) The current cathode materials are electrically and thermally insulating, not capable of effectively and efficiently transporting electrons and heat. The low electrical conductivity means high internal resistance and the necessity to add a large amount of conductive additives, effectively reducing the proportion of electrochemically active material in the cathode that already has a low capacity. The low thermal conductivity also implies a higher tendency to undergo thermal runaway, a major safety issue in lithium battery industry.
As a totally distinct class of energy storage device, sodium batteries have been considered an attractive alternative to lithium batteries since sodium is abundant and the production of sodium is significantly more environmentally benign compared to the production of lithium. In addition, the high cost of lithium is a major issue and Na batteries potentially can be of significantly lower cost.
There are at least two types of batteries that operate on bouncing sodium ions (Na+) back and forth between an anode and a cathode: the sodium metal battery having Na metal or alloy as the anode active material and the sodium-ion battery having a Na intercalation compound as the anode active material. Sodium ion batteries using a hard carbon-based anode active material (a Na intercalation compound) and a sodium transition metal phosphate as a cathode have been described by several research groups; e.g. J. Barker, et al. “Sodium Ion Batteries,” U.S. Pat. No. 7,759,008 (Jul. 20, 2010).
However, these sodium-based devices exhibit even lower specific energies and rate capabilities than Li-ion batteries. The anode active materials for Na intercalation and the cathode active materials for Na intercalation have lower Na storage capacities as compared with their Li storage capacities. For instance, hard carbon particles are capable of storing Li ions up to 300-360 mAh/g, but the same materials can store Na ions up to 150-250 mAh/g and less than 100 mAh/g for K ion storage.
Instead of hard carbon or other carbonaceous intercalation compound, sodium metal may be used as the anode active material in a sodium metal cell. However, the use of metallic sodium as the anode active material is normally considered undesirable and dangerous due to the dendrite formation, interface aging, and electrolyte incompatibility problems.
Low-capacity anode or cathode active materials are not the only problem that the alkali metal-ion battery industry faces. There are serious design and manufacturing issues that the lithium-ion battery industry does not seem to be aware of, or has largely ignored. For instance, despite the high gravimetric capacities at the electrode level (based on the anode or cathode active material weight alone) as frequently claimed in open literature and patent documents, these electrodes unfortunately fail to provide batteries with high capacities at the battery cell or pack level (based on the total battery cell weight or pack weight). This is due to the notion that, in these reports, the actual active material mass loadings of the electrodes are too low. In most cases, the active material mass loadings of the anode (areal density) is significantly lower than 15 mg/cm2 and mostly <8 mg/cm2 (areal density=the amount of active materials per electrode cross-sectional area along the electrode thickness direction). The cathode active material amount is typically 1.5-2.5 times higher than the anode active material. As a result, the weight proportion of the anode active material (e.g. graphite or carbon) in a lithium-ion battery is typically from 12% to 17%, and that of the cathode active material (e.g. LiMn2O4) from 17% to 35% (mostly <30%). The weight fraction of the cathode and anode active materials combined is typically from 30% to 45% of the cell weight
The low active material mass loading is primarily due to the inability to obtain thicker electrodes (thicker than 100-200 μm) using the conventional slurry coating procedure. This is not a trivial task as one might think, and in reality the electrode thickness is not a design parameter that can be arbitrarily and freely varied for the purpose of optimizing the cell performance. This is manufacturing limited. Furthermore, thicker samples tend to become extremely brittle or of poor structural integrity and would also require the use of large amounts of binder resin. The low areal densities and low volume densities (related to thin electrodes and poor packing density) result in a relatively low volumetric capacity and low volumetric energy density of the battery cells. Sodium-ion batteries and potassium-ion batteries have similar problems.
Additionally, thick electrodes are also mechanically rigid, not flexible, not bendable, and not conformal to a desired shape. As such, for conventional alkali metal batteries, high volumetric/gravimetric energy density and mechanical flexibility appear to be mutually exclusive.
With the growing demand for more compact and portable energy storage systems, there is keen interest to increase the utilization of the volume of the batteries. Novel electrode materials and designs that enable high volumetric capacities and high mass loadings are essential to achieving improved cell volumetric capacities and energy densities for alkali metal batteries.
Therefore, there is clear and urgent need for alkali metal batteries that have high active material mass loading (high areal density), active materials with high apparent density (high tap density), high electrode thickness without significantly decreasing the electron and ion transport rates (e.g. without a high electron transport resistance or long lithium or sodium ion diffusion path), high volumetric capacity, and high volumetric energy density.
These attributes must be achieved, along with flexibility, shape conformability, and safety of the resulting battery.